He paused suddenly and bit his lips. At the farther edge of the wide circle the face of Tompkins himself had loomed all at once into his surprised consciousness, and something in the boy’s level, unsmiling, somber glance brought a twinge of shame to Ranleigh’s heart. For an instant he stood silent, striving to resume his usual cool nonchalance. Then he turned away with a shrug.
“But after all,” he drawled, “it’s hardly worth while arguing about. Who’s got that seventh problem in Geom? It’s a sticker, all right.”
It was well enough done to deceive most of the fellows about him, particularly since the sound of the last bell started the crowd up the steps and into the school building. But Court Parker had noted the direction of Ranny’s glance, and a gleam of indignation flashed into his eyes. For a moment he stood biting his lips; then his face cleared and he pounced on Tompkins.
“Well, were you, Tommy!” he demanded airily.
“Was I what?” countered the other, briefly.
“The hero–the chap who leaped into the breach and saved Georgie Warren from a–a–an electrocutive finish.” Court’s metaphors might be mixed, but his vocabulary seldom lacked originality. Tompkins merely shrugged his shoulders and frowned a bit.
“Is it likely?” he asked, with a touch of bitterness. “Even if I’d had the chance, I’m too thick to–”
“Rot!” cut in Court, swiftly. As they went up the steps he flung an arm impulsively around the other’s shoulders. “Don’t you worry about anything Ranny Phelps says. Nobody ever pays any attention to him, anyhow. I do wish I knew who that plucky chap was, though. It was a corking thing to do. You haven’t heard any one say, have you, Tommy?”
Tompkins hesitated an instant, an odd indecision in his face. A few minutes ago he might have found a boyish pride and pleasure in his friend’s surprise at learning his part in the affair. Now he merely shook his head. “Those I’ve heard–talking about it, didn’t seem to know,” he returned shortly.
“Humph! Well, I guess I’ll have to start my mighty brain working and do the Sherlock Holmes stunt,” decided Court, philosophically. “Say! Won’t Jimmy be crazy, though, to be away at school with all this happening to his own family. I can just see him squirm!”